Portrait of Jackson as White Is Attacked

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A 14-by-16-foot portrait of a white-skinned, blond and blue-eyed Jesse Jackson was knocked down on Wednesday afternoon as it was being installed in a downtown parking lot as part of a show sponsored by the Washington Project for the Arts.

The portrait, which is painted in sections on tin, was damaged but not beyond repair. It was the work of David Hammons, a black New York artist, and was emblazoned with the question: ''How Ya Like Me Now?'' The work was attacked with sledgehammers by a group of black men who felt the painting disparaged Mr. Jackson. The work was one of seven outdoor installations that had been commissioned as part of a recent show entitled: ''The Blues Esthetic: Black Culture and Modernism.'' The show closes on Dec. 9.

Eric Easter, press secretary for Mr. Jackson, said today that Mr. Jackson had not seen the portrait but had seen a photograph of the painting in an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer about the exhibition.

''He got kind of a kick out of it,'' said Mr. Easter, continuing: ''Our position is that the Rainbow Coalition does not support censorship of any kind and art is open to interpretation, whether it is seen in a negative or positive light. A free marketplace of ideas is one of our democratic principles and we should respect it.'' 'On the Cutting Edge'

''I am really disappointed,'' said Rick Powell, the curator of the show and acting co-director of the Washington Project for the Arts. ''David Hammons, the artist is on the cutting edge of dealing in his art with issues that affect Afro-Americans and ever since I saw the concept for the piece, I thought it was an important image that had to be seen, concentrated upon, talked about. For me it is very evident what it is about - are your likes or dislikes about people based on race? That was the question it was posing to people.''

Mr. Powell, who is black, pointed out that the title of the portrait, ''How Ya Like Me Now?,'' is a line from a rap song performed by Kool Moe Dee. ''I think that contemporary art in general,'' Mr. Powell said, ''is not to be embraced or understood upon immediate perusal. You have to think about it, reflect on it, that is what this piece demanded.''

The confrontation took place as several members of project's staff, who are white, were installing the portrait late Wednesday afternoon. ''It happened very quickly,'' said Beth Curran of the project staff. ''We tried to discuss it, explain it to them, but it became clear very quickly that we weren't going to be able to prevent it.''

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The damaged installation, which is painted on tin and constructed to come apart along straight lines, has been placed in storage. Mr. Powell said that he had been in touch with Mr. Hammons, who is currently on a fellowship at the American Acacdemy in Rome, and that they were assessing the situation. Explanation Planned

''One thing we want to do is to put a statement up on that spot that will explain to the public what our intention was,'' he said.

Although the six other public installations have been in place since the show opened on Sept. 14, the Jackson portrait would have been the only one on city property, said Mr. Philip Brookman, director of programs for project. ''We had to go through a bureaucratic process of submitting drawings and applications.''

The city only last week gave permission for the portrait to be set up.

''It is a subtle and complicated image,'' Mr. Brookman said. ''David Hammons is a very sophisticated artist. It was designed as a piece of public art and he was opening up the possibities of many different reactions from people. It is very striking when you see the whole thing 16 feet up in the air; it is a very powerful image.

''All they saw was that Jesse Jackson was painted white,'' he continued, referring to the men who attacked the portrait. ''They didn't stop to think about the complexity of what the message was. The reaction we got was instantaneous.''

A version of this article appears in print on December 1, 1989, on Page C00014 of the National edition with the headline: Portrait of Jackson as White Is Attacked. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe